Thursday, October 19, 2006

Making Change Sustainable

Consider how many times people try diets, or go on a fitness program. Adopting any kind of business improvement process within an organization is no different.

We know intuitively it's the right thing to do - the problem is ....actually doing it. Even more important - doing it over a long period of time.

Getting from "knowing what to do" to to actually "doing it" requires real change.

It's amazing that we think long and hard about about "how to do it," but spend relatively little time just rolling up our sleeves and making it happen.

Here's a quick problem-solving framework for helping you to make it happen:

Identify the problem. What is not working? What is preventing it from working the way you want/intend for it to work?

Identify alternatives. Do the due diligence necessary to pick the best alternative to the problem identified above.

Chose one - then implement it. Don't let yourself suffer from "analysis-paralysis." Identify how you will know that the alternative you have selected is actually working.

Monitor, measure the results.

Continue implementing, improving the process as you move forward. Unless you've determined that it's not working at all - don't change from one alternative to another. How will you know whether you're on the right track if you don't give it enough time?